With the decline of Western civilization comes a new pilgrimage of musicians looking to carve out their fates from the wreckage of the past. ÆGES are the new breed of California’s creative drifters. Founded by former Seattleite Mark Holcomb (Undertow, Shift)and Chicago-raised Larry Herweg (Pelican, Tusk), ÆGES grew out of a temporary hiatus for their other band, San Angelus. Holcomb and Herweg continued writing new material and forging into heavier terrain. Another transplant, Kemble Walters (The Rise, The Blank Faces, Juliette and the Licks), who grew up in Indonesia, had met Herweg while on tour in Chicago. With both Herweg and Walters now living in LA, they began to play music together. Herweg noticed the similarities between Holcomb and Walters playing and writing and knew the two had to meet each other. Holcomb and Walters hit it off instantly in person and in the rehearsal space. The final piece to the puzzle was the sole California native, bassist Tony Baumeister (16, Cutthroats 9). Converging in Southern California across state lines and international waters, ÆGES use their world-wise musical expertise to rebuild the archetype of the heavy rock band.
There’s a definite element of desert rock in ÆGES sound--the low-tuned guitars, the sludgy sun-baked riffs, the deceptive pop hook buried in the molasses-thick instrumentation. Yet the diverse backgrounds of the band members create a unique blend of perspectives and a resultantly fresh sound. The common sonic thread between the four individuals in ÆGES--their tenure in bands that explored the darker side of hardcore—manifests itself in the aggressive tonalities of their sound. But their divergent paths, both geographical and musical, broadened the emotional palette beyond the angst of their earlier bands. Their debut EP, “Roaches”, is set for release via Hawthorne Street Records (Pelican, The Life and Times, Sweet Cobra) April 2011.
The new millennium ushered in a new, revitalized era of artistic integrity for LA. We saw it in the age of the acid-hazed ‘60s, the age of the nihilistic Regan-era punks, and the current age of abandoned archetypes of a failed economy. It’s creative optimism in a time of hopelessness. It’s the music of ÆGES.- Brian Cook.